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Ask Marilyn: How to Improve Your Vocabulary

Russell Gilbert of Bowie, Maryland, writes::

Marilyn: I would like to improve my vocabulary and possibly learn Latin. Do you have any suggestions? Marilyn responds:

I recommend that you read great literature (authors such as Austen, Dickens, Joyce, Melville, Proust, Tolstoy, and many more) as the best means of increasing your vocabulary. They are dense with expressive words. If you can read these works on an electronic device with an easy way to look up words that leave you clueless, so much the better. However, you'll learn plenty just by context.

I would not recommend studying Latin for this purpose. Yes, you'll learn about Latin roots and influences, but that doesn't justify the time you'll spend overall.